What is homelessness? According to the definition stated by Stewart B. McKinney,

for purposes of the 1987 McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, “a homeless person (homelessness)is one who lacks a fixed permanent nightime residence, or whose nighttime residence is a temporary shelter, welfare hotel, or any public or private place not designed as sleeping accommodations for human beings.” (Blau, 8) A rather deceptive definition when one considers the fact that homelessness is not a natural state, but one created and maintained by political agendas.

Our government is not doing all that it can to combat our nation’s homelessness.

In 1987, the McKinney Homeless Assistance Act was put into law. (Hombs, 68-83) However,

our government has moved away from the need to address the causes of homelessness. Instead

our government has focused on the individual responsibility of those who become homeless,

public housing, cuts to federal aid to poor children, (Foscarinis, par. 5-8) and cuts in subsidized low-rent housing.

emergency relief provisions for food, shelter, mobilized health care, and transitional housing,

The McKinney Act has been amended numerous times, with the 1990 amendments including the Shelter Plus Care program, which provided housing assistance to the homeless with disabilities, mental illness, AIDS, and drug/alcohol addictions, and a program within the Health Care for the Homeless to provide primary health care and outreach to at-risk homeless children.

Some topics in this essay:
Assistance Act, Homelessness America, McKinney Act, President Clinton, President Reagan, Elderly Assistance, Reagan Administration, Act HUD, Los Angeles, Survival Act, mckinney act, health care, local communities, causes homelessness, homeless people, job training, mckinney homeless assistance, homeless assistance, assistance act, homelessness america, mckinney homeless, homeless assistance act, homelessness public education, homeless persons' survival, permanent low-income housing,